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POLITICS

Paris vows to clean up ‘trashed city’ after wave of criticism

Paris officials laid out eight measures on Monday aimed at sprucing up one of the world's most visited cities following a social media campaign lambasting trash and other eyesores.

Published: 6 July 2021 09:16 CEST
Paris vows to clean up 'trashed city' after wave of criticism
A social media campaign has been portraying Paris as a dirty city. Photo: Ludovic Marin / AFP.

For months residents have been posting pictures of dirty or dilapidated urban furniture, abandoned scooters or ramshackle terraces set up by cafes during the pandemic with the hashtag #saccageparis (Trashed Paris), to the dismay of City Hall.

It has put Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who is weighing a bid for the presidency, on the defensive.

“We’re not doing this in response to saccageparis,” deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said at a press conference. “But when we are called out by our citizens… they deserve to be listened to and respected. The things being said by the Saccage Paris groups are not wrong.”

The push for a “new aesthetic,” he said, would include repainting historic elements of public space including the ornate iron and wood “Davioud” benches from the Second Empire.

The city will also remove or renovate recent “Mikado” benches – which often resemble haphazard piles of railroad ties – that many Parisians love to hate.

Some 2,000 “useless” advertising panels will come down, Gregoire said. And he vowed “more discrete and harmonious” painting and barriers for the 60 kilometres (37 miles) of “coronapistes” bike lanes that were quickly carved out during the pandemic.

Most of the lanes currently are marked with plastic yellow poles or hulking concrete construction blocks that have not aged well.

Hidalgo’s rightwing critics and some residents accuse her of allowing the capital to fall into neglect while making trips to other French cities to woo allies for her rumoured presidential run next year.

She has claimed the city is being targeted by a smear campaign, and has promised to double spending on cleaning during her second term as mayor to €1 billion.

Member comments

  1. Considering the huge number of tourists I do not think Paris is all that bad. Even Tokyo, which is an especially clean city, has its areas that look worse than Paris, much worse. And compared to Rome, Paris is spotless and in much better repair. You have really made an effort though. Trash cans are all over the place, they are changed multiple times a day, I know I have watched from my apartment window. But there are some cultures that just are not yet on board with stopping littering. In America it took a very long time to stop peopole from littering in the highways. But it has made a huge difference. But it took maybe 15 years. Even the Metro is actually really good. It is cleaner than both New York City and Washington DC.

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POLITICS

‘It’s time to reset Britain’s relations with Europe’

As he begins his first overseas trip, the UK's new Foreign Secretary David Lammy tells The Local how Britain plans to rebuild ties with Europe and become a better neighbour.

Published: 7 July 2024 08:54 CEST
'It’s time to reset Britain's relations with Europe'

I am a man of multiple identities. Londoner. English. Patriotic Brit. Proud of my Caribbean heritage. A transatlanticist. And, throughout my political career, absolutely committed to a close partnership with our European neighbours. 

As the new British Foreign Secretary, with our Prime Minister Keir Starmer, this government will reset relations with Europe as a reliable partner, a dependable ally and a good neighbour. 

That is why I am travelling immediately to some of our key European partners. Sitting down with Germany’s Annalena Baerbock, Poland’s Radek Sikorski and Sweden’s Tobias Billström, my message will be simple: let us seize the opportunity for a reset, working even more closely together to tackle shared challenges. 

The most immediate of these challenges, of course, is Ukraine. We will stand by the brave people of Ukraine, as they defend their freedom against Vladimir Putin’s new form of fascism.

British military, economic, political and diplomatic support for Ukraine will remain ironclad. But we are always stronger when we work with others. Germany, Poland and Sweden are all also staunch supporters of Ukraine. European security will be this government’s foreign and defence priority.

Russia’s barbaric invasion has made clear the need for us to do more to strengthen our own defences.

Next week, the Prime Minister, the Defence Secretary and I will all travel to Washington for the NATO Summit. 75 years ago, my political hero and former Labour Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, was pivotal to forming the Alliance. He would have been delighted to see NATO grow larger over the years, with Germany, Poland and now Sweden all joining the most successful defensive alliance in history. 

This Government’s commitment to the Alliance is unshakeable, just as it was in Bevin’s time. I will be discussing this weekend how NATO allies can go further in investing in our tightly connected defence industries and providing Ukraine with its own clear path to joining our alliance. 

Alongside security, we want to do more together to bring prosperity to our continent. None of us can address the urgency of the climate emergency alone – we need coordinated global action. This is particularly important in Europe, whose energy networks are so closely connected – together, we must invest in the industries of the future and deliver sustained economic growth for all.

And finally, we must do more to champion the ties between our people and our culture. Holidays, family ties, school and student exchanges, the arts, and sport (I was of course cheering on England in the Euros…). Thanks to this, our citizens benefit from the rich diversity of our continent. 

We can deliver more cooperation in many areas bilaterally, via NATO and in groupings like the G7, the Joint Expeditionary Force or the European Political Community which will gather at Blenheim Palace on July 18th. 

But if we are to fulfil our ambitions for a reset, we must also improve Britain’s relationship with the European Union.

I will be explaining to my new fellow Foreign Ministers how our new Government’s proposal for an ambitious and broad-ranging UK-EU Security Pact would underpin closer cooperation between us, enshrining a new geopolitical partnership. I also look forward to hearing their ideas for how we can rebuild trust and reset the relationship between the UK and the EU. 

Over centuries, our individual and national stories have come together to tell a wider story of shared progress. Today, we all share a commitment to democracy, human rights and international law. Tragic experiences in our continent’s shared past have helped us to understand how our shared security and prosperity depend on these shared values.

And I believe these values also offer a foundation for closer partnership in the future. My visit this weekend is just the beginning. I look forward to seeing Britain reconnect with our European neighbours in the years ahead.

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